


One anniversary

by Shevron



Series: Familylife [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Camping, Gen, Hiking, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22331995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shevron/pseuds/Shevron
Summary: A nice campingtrip with everything it needed: Campfire, marshmallows, singing and so much more.
Series: Familylife [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603087
Kudos: 2





	One anniversary

“It will be SOO cool!”  
The panther was happy because his daughter was excited about the trip she will make with her best friend and his parents.  
“But don´t forget the rules.”  
“Ohhhh dad! Please! Don´t come with the rules again!”  
“Little kitty. You know the deal: You go on that trip but you have to follow the rules. No rules, no trip.”

The small girl let her shoulders sag, before she straightened herself again.  
“I´ll have my phone at me at all times.  
When Uncle Mick or Auntie Bo say something, I´ll follow as if you or mom said it.  
When I leave the camp I´ll tell them where I´m going.  
I´ll not touch, smell or eat a flower, insect or something else I don´t know.”

“That´s my little angel. Now: Let´s go.”  
Felicitas took her backpack and was out of the door in just a few seconds.  
Since their home was on the outskirts of the rainforest-district, near the border to tundratown and downtown, it wasn´t far to their destination: Lionheart Avenue.  
It took them less than half an hour on paws to reach the traditional chalet. On the front it was the well-known ‘Old Wolf Tavern’ where insiders know: Interspecies-couples were not rejected just because of their love. Thanks to the owners origin from another continent, where his country stayed always neutral.  
It was partly build inside the hill and on the backside was on a higher level of the hill the entrance to the home of his friend Mick and his family in the second floor of the building.

He wasn´t surprised, when the door opened even before his paw could make contact with the wood.  
“FEL! Come in!”  
The two kids were gone in an instant and he couldn´t supress a broad grin, just as the wolf in the middle of the kitchen.  
“Hey Mick. Everything ready?”  
“Yeah. All good to go. And your surprise?”  
“I´ll get the last groceries on my way back home. Candles, rose-petals and everything else is ready. Only my lovely kitty is missing till the evening.”  
“It´s nice to know we both will have fun in the evening. Even if yours is a bit more… carnal…”  
The panther´s grin grew…  
“Oh… yes. So: I´ll let you four go on your trip and have fun.”

“Felicitas! I´m on my way home.”  
The little girl came back into the kitchen and to her dad.  
He knelt down and wrapped his arms and his tail around the little girl.  
“Have fun and remember the rules. Ok?”  
“I will. It´s just sad you can´t come with us.”  
“You know mom have an important job. But don´t worry… I will take care of her, while you have fun.”  
“Ok. Bye.”

As fast as she appeared, she was gone.  
When they were alone again the panther pulled the wolf in a tight hug.  
“Take care of her, or I will have to let Cathleen take ‘care’ of you. And I don´t think Bo would like that.”  
“Oh, Shev… You can´t be serious for even a few minutes.”

An evil grin appeared on the muzzle of the black cat.  
“What let you think I´m not serious about that?”  
The wolf laughed and the panther joined shortly after.  
“You should really go and make your kitty happy!”  
“That´s my intention… countless times… Bye Mick!”  
“Bye Shev.”

Only a few minutes later the party was on their way to the next subway station. Everyone carried a backpack but Mick had as addition a medium sized guitar case with him.  
They had to change the trains two times, but within a reasonable amount of time they reached their final station at Hump Street. From there it was just a short walk to the piers on the eastern coast of the city.  
Felicitas was looking over the waves with wide open eyes.  
“It´s the first time I leave the city…”  
“You should see the fields in Bunnyburrow before the harvest.”  
“I think I would like that.”

“Dwight! Felicitas! Come here. We are almost there.”  
The two kids looked over to Bo and when she waved they followed her to Mick, who waited near the stairs to where they will leave the small ferry.

“That looks… different…”  
In front of Felicitas was a big forest with just small paths between the trees.  
“That it is. Oh, that brings back memories…”  
Just as they entered the dense woods there was a small booth with a grizzlybear in it.

“BOB?!”  
The bear looked up an after some moments began to grin as board as his muzzle allowed.  
“Holy trout! Mick?! Is that really you?”  
“Yes! I can´t believe it! You are still here? I would have thought you are old enough to retire when I was here the last time. And that was many years ago!”  
“I was born in the wilderness, lived in the wilderness and I will die in the wilderness. But thanks to the wilderness I´m still fit.”  
A deep laugh, almost a grumble, shook the mammals.

“And who are the lovely friends at your side?”  
“Oh… This…”  
He holds his paw in Bo´s direction and she took it without hesitation.  
“… is my mate Bo.”  
“Mate?!”  
“Yes.”  
“You are an Inter?”  
“And proud of it.”  
“Good. You don´t believe how many Inters come here and think I´m too old to see it. And those cuties are yours?”  
“Almost.”

Mick took Dwight at his sides and put him on his shoulders.  
“May I introduce…  
Bob: My son Dwight Fries.  
Dwight: Bob Grizz, park ranger.”

Bob got down on one knee but Dwight still had to look up.  
“Nice to meet you!”

The bear´s paw was almost big enough for the young buck to completely vanish inside it, but he didn´t hesitate and shook the offered paw without the slightest hint of fear.  
“Nice to meet you too!”

After Dwight was on his own feet again he lifted Felicitas the same way on his shoulders.  
“And this lovely lady is Felicitas Velvetpaw. Our families are friends.”

Before Bob could say something the little girl hold already her paw to the bear.  
“It´s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Grizz!”

“Such a polite little lady. Nice to meet you.”  
He shook the girls paw.  
“And don´t worry. You can call me Bob as everyone else does.”

Bob put his meaty paw to his maw in an attempt to whisper.  
“I promise to not snitch to your parents, that you call me Bob, when you do.”

With a wink he got up and into his booth again.  
“Ok. Back to business.  
Mick, I guess your little ones don’t have experiences regarding camping in the wilderness?”  
“No. I´m the only one of the group.”  
“Alright. You should know, because of some cases of lost kids the area is surrounded by a fence. So if you are lost and got to the fence, just follow it and you will end at one of the gates for the hiking-routes. There are similar maps as this here and you will know which way you have to go to get back to your camp. The places for camping are settled camps, so you can choose, if you want one in the center of the area or one of the secluded ones at the outskirts.”  
With that he pointed to the map at the back with a bunch of small circles, where some were marked with red, black or green pins.

Mick´s eyes flew over the map and after some seconds he pointed on one circle on the far end of the area with a medium sized stream right beside it.  
“Good to know you haven´t forgotten what a good camp requires. How long do you want to stay?”  
“Just over the weekend. Monday evening I have to open my tavern again.”  
“You still have it?  
Wow!  
Who knows?  
Maybe I´ll make a trip to the city just to pay you a visit.”  
“That would be nice.”

After some formalities, followed by some tips from the ranger, the four mammals said their goodbyes and followed the marked path to their camp.

They needed some breaks since Mick was out of practice and the other three are not used to this kind of activity, but after about three hours they arrived at their destination…

It was a rather small clearing with a fixed fireplace with a pyramid of metal-rods over it in the center.  
Around it were three logs in a U-shape to sit on and the stream was only a few meters away.  
At one of the trees were a small shed.

They put their backpacks down, stretched a bit and sat down on the logs.  
“What´s that?”  
“The fireplace was built as secure as possible to prevent accidents with the open fires. In that shed are some things many forgot like buckets to extinguish the embers. As you can imagine in a dense forest like this a fire can end in a disaster.”  
His companions could just nod.  
“But I would suggest we build our camp, before it gets dark and collect some firewood in the near surroundings.”

Mick looked down to Felicitas.  
“Maybe we have enough time and luck to get some fresh fish from the stream?”  
Her eyes began to shine so bright he wanted to ask for sunglasses…

The wolf smiled, clapped his paws and began to examine the surrounding trees...  
“Our tent is bigger than I was used to, so you have to help me a bit…”  
He pointed to two trees at the side of the fireplace, before he looked at the two kids.  
“We have to tie a rope between those two trees in about that height. I can lift you up and you will tie it around the tree?”  
Both kids were happy to do something more exciting than just walk through a forest. Even if the view was new and awesome…  
“Good. Bo, would you look for some branches around here for the fire please?”  
“Of course.”

Mick took the tent and the other parts from his backpack, brought them to their destination and turned to Felicitas.  
“I will now lift you to that branch…”  
“That won´t be necessary.”  
Before Mick could ask what she meant, the girl had her claws out and started to climb up the trunk within the blink of an eye.  
“Already forgotten Uncle Mick? I´m a panthress.”

The wolf groaned, before turning to his buck.  
“I can that too!”  
Dwight didn´t climb like Felicitas, instead he used his strong legs to jump from branch to branch until he reached the same height as his friend.

Mick put a paw over his eyes.  
“I feel so old…”

Bo returned a few times until the sun began to set and it was amazing to see how fast they proceeded with their work.  
It took them almost no time till the tent was finished, followed by some cleaning of the camp from loose leaves, the three of them sitting with fishing rods at the stream and starting the campfire for their dinner.

It was a heart-warming view for the mates, when Felicitas was smiling and sniffing the air with closed eyes at the delicious smell…  
Mick couldn´t hide the fact the aroma had a similar effect on him…  
Bo didn´t mind it, since she was long enough Mick´s mate…  
But Dwight seemed a bit confused. Of course he had smelled the usually used insect-based meat-replacements for predators and even tasted it, but this was real fish and he haven´t smelled it until now…

Bo had some vegetables for Dwight and herself with them and was roasting them over the fire like the fish.  
But when it was time to eat he looked at Felicitas at his side with curious eyes, as she used her claws to cut off small pieces and impale it on them to lift them to her maw.

“Hey Fel… Can I try a bit?”  
It seemed she was lost in trance, as she needed a moment to register who asked.  
“Oh, of course. Here.”  
A bit of fish, impaled in the claw of her right digit vanished in the maw of the buck and his parents hold their breath.  
He chewed and after a few moments his eyes widened…  
“WOW! That tastes awesome!”

They hadn´t thought about the fact he haven’t smelled fish in the past, but were glad he could not only stand the smell… Quite the contrary: He liked the smell and even loved the taste!  
So it wasn´t a big sacrifice to offer the last fish to his son and watch him devour it without hesitation.

After everyone had their fill, Mick lifted a big bag and some sticks.  
“Ok. Who want dessert?”  
The question was pointless, as the kids jumped at his side and were happy to get a stick for the marshmallows.

“And what would be a campfire without good old singing?”  
Now he had a guitar in his lap and Bo had to snicker.  
“Do you still know how to play?”  
“It´s like riding a bicycle… You never forget it… completely…”

Bo did get up to fill their water bottles, while Mick tried to get the instrument to sound right.  
She had two of the bottles filled at the stream, when she recognized the melody and her smile vanished.

Mick had played a few accords to get the hang of it again and settled for a well-known melody. But since last Christmas there was a version known, which let him grin like he would be howling mad…  
“What shall we do with the drunken shee… OMPF!!!”

Now he was laying on his back, Bo sitting on his chest and her hooves around his neck.  
“I TOLD YOU WHAT WILL HAPPEN; IF YOU BRING THAT UP IN FRONT OF DWIGHT, RIGHT?!”  
“… But my sweet little lamb…”  
“Don´t ‘my-sweet-little-lamb’ me! What shall THEY think?!”  
She pointed with her hoof to the kids and stiffened, when she heard Dwight.

“THAT´s what I call a ‘Full-body-tackle’.”  
They looked up and there they were:  
Both kids hold their phones in front of them, lenses to the mates, Dwight hold it in his right paw and Felicitas in her left...  
Eyes glued to the screen and big smiles on their muzzles.

“You are not seriously recording this?”  
The answer came less than a heartbeat later from the girl.  
“Nope. We are just avoiding our eyes from the expected violence.”  
Without looking up from their displays Felicitas lifted her right paw, Dwight his left and they met in a perfectly aimed and timed paw-bump.

Bo’s hooves grabbed his collar and began to shake Mick.  
“It´s your fault!”

Far away in a moderate house in the rainforest-district…  
Two black bodies, only in their fur, lay on the bed, her back against his front. He had hugged her around her middle, curled his tail around hers and was enjoying the intimate meaning of so much contact.  
“What do you think they are doing right now?”  
“If he did it right, the kids are sleeping like stones and he will use the opportunity to hold his beloved mate and maybe watching the stars?”  
“Hmmm… I like that image…”  
She began to purr…  
“Right now I prefer another image.”  
With that he began to nip on her neck.  
“Something that have nothing to do with them…”  
He began to purr.  
“… and everything with my beautiful mate…”

She just enjoyed the taste of the soft, warm, sugar-laden treat, as she leaned against her wolf.  
“When was the last time we just sat down and talked?”  
Thanks to her wool she didn´t need it, but she was contend to hold his bushy tail even if it wasn´t that cold...  
“A while.”  
A devilish smile graced her muzzle, as she straddled the lap of her mate and put her arms around his neck.  
“I hope you don´t think I´ve forgotten your crime?”  
Mick swallowed and observed her. Waiting for any hint of her plans.  
“You should know…”  
She bend forward and pressed her lips against his.  
“… If he hadn´t coaxed you to take Felicitas with us…”  
Bo pressed her body flush against his.  
“… YOU should have coaxed HIM to take Dwight…”  
Her blunt teeth began to nip at his neck.  
“… so we would have been alone…”  
Mick began to moan…  
“SOOO sad we are not alone.”  
The sheep got up and walked to the tent followed by a needy whine…  
When he saw the look she gave him, Mick wasn´t sure if that shiver was of the good or the bad kind, but he decided to face his fate and followed her into the tent.

Laughing pulled him out of his sleep, but the first thing he registered was the soft wool at his side.  
He had to smile…  
It needed a fair amount of begging for forgiveness before she allowed him to hold her during their sleep, but he was successful…  
The laughing returned and he looked around. The mates were alone.  
It didn´t need a genius to discover the laughing came from the kids… and they were outside.

Mick left the tent with a huge yawn and some serious stretching.  
The pile of burned down wood in the fireplace told him the kids had made a fire for something warm in the morning and even left some water in a can at the edge of the embers to stay warm.  
A warm drink was very appealing, so he did something he would usually see as committing a crime, but in the wilderness you have to compromise…  
The instant cocoa to mix with water was already out, so they seem to have decided bad cocoa is better than no cocoa.

When he let the hot liquid get down his throat, he surveyed his surroundings and saw the kids running and jumping between some trees near the stream.

He watched them till Bo left the tent and he smiled.  
>She´s so beautiful when she´s still a bit sleepy…<  
Bo sat down beside him and watched the kids playing.  
“How long they are up already?”  
“No clue. But I would guess a while.”

It was late forenoon, and the kids were indeed some hours up, but they knew the adult´s schedule, so they let them sleep… More time to play without distractions.

“Dwight! Felicitas! Please come here!”  
Both kids came immediately and he smiled at them.  
“Do you two think you have enough energy left for some hiking to some awesome lookouts?”  
“Of course!”  
“Good. Did you two have breakfast in the morning or did you just make some drinks?”  
With that he lifted his own cup.

“We weren’t hungry. We made us just some hot cocoa.”  
“Hm. You will need something. How about we make us some sandwiches as breakfast and some for the hike?”  
“Sounds good.”  
After they made their sandwiches and filled their bottles with fresh water, the kids started the journey with unbridled vigor and the two adults had to call them back a few times before they could go too far ahead.  
Once they reached the gate, Mick made it clear they have to stay together, since they would now leave the rather save area of the camping-forest.

Luckily the kids were energetic, but not stupid and followed that order...  
After about an hour they reached the foot of a mountain and took a short rest.  
“That is our destination?”  
“Here you will see something you will find nowhere else.”  
“At the peak?”  
“No, but we have a good portion of the mountain before us.”

When they reached a resting-point at about half the height of the mountain, the kid´s tempo had significantly decreased since the beginning of their hike, but they didn´t seem to have problems to find new topics to talk about.  
That amount of talking was more, than they encountered sometimes in the Old Wolf Tavern… And there was no end in sight.  
But that was by far nothing bad, quite the contrary: It was a delight to see the topic-changes and quick responses they throw at each other.

Their destination was at about three quarter of the mountain at a lookout on a big ledge.  
The platform had a railing, even with those pay-to-look-binoculars, some tables with benches and a breath-taking view to the east:  
Zootopia in its full glory.  
The sun stood high above the city they all call home and it was like looking at a gloriously colorful ocean of gems.  
It was even enough to get Felicitas and Dwight to be silent for a while…

“When I arrived here the first time it was cloudy and I thought: ‘Ok. Nice view.’ and just continued my ascent. The peak have a similar platform, but to the west. But when I was on my way back, I took a look again and the rain was over. I know it sound cheesy, but the city with a rainbow above it could have been on a postcard.  
So you just had to see it.”

Bo took his paw and laid it around her shoulder.  
“You can be so sweet, if you really want it.”  
His eyes did begin to glow…  
She stood on her hoof-tips and whispered in his ear.  
“But we won´t be alone the whole weekend, though.”  
A quiet whine escaped this throat and he pressed his nose to her neck to sniff her.

The decent was far easier and faster, but they had still time before the sun would set when they arrived at their camp...  
Mick offered to go fishing again but Dwight asked if he and Felicitas could go a bit more playing.  
“Are you two sill not powered out?!”  
They looked at each other and back to his dad.  
“No.”

He groaned and wished them fun. To his delight Bo decided she could keep him company.  
After they left the immediate proximity of the camp Felicitas began to speak.  
“Ok. Out with it: What have you planned?”  
He just grinned and looked around.  
“There!”

She followed him and he stopped in front of a very big tree.  
“That should be high enough.”  
“For what?”  
“The view from the lookout was just… WOW. Imagine how it would look like during the sunset!”  
“That should look awesome…”  
Felicitas looked up the trunk and discovered it was higher than most other trees in the vicinity.  
“You mean…?”  
She pointed up.  
“Exactly! The view have to be absolutely awesome!”  
“I don´t know. What if something happened? To fall from that height is really dangerous. It´s not like those in Zootopia, where the trees are under supervision to make sure they are strong and healthy.”  
“You have nothing to fear. Here.”  
He made some jumps from branch to branch and were a few meters above the ground in just some seconds.  
“All strong and save. Now come on!”  
She sighed and began to climb the tree too.  
Felicitas couldn´t shake off the bad feeling, but that wouldn´t stop him and it wouldn´t stop her either.

Not even a quarter of the tree under her and she began to see it as just another game with him like all the other things they did together…  
In no time they reached one of the highest branches and sat down on it.  
As if the sun had waited just for them she began her descent below the city and they discovered the picture they imagined were completely wrong… The view was even better.  
Felicitas leaned her head on his shoulder.  
“Thank you.”  
“For what?”  
“For luring me up. I wouldn´t have dared to do this, if not for you.”  
“You are welcome.”

They sat there for a while, but they knew they have to start their own descent, before it would be too dark.  
Felicitas went first and waited after some branches to wait for Dwight.  
She didn´t expected it, but it was that moment a fatal accident happened:  
While she waited for him to follow, a bug came out from under the bark and when Dwight jumped down on exactly that branch… he landed on this bug…  
While the squished bug would usually just be an annoyance, now it made the branch slippy and let his feet glide off it. The branch below him wasn´t strong enough to hold the buck and broke. Bringing him further away from the trunk.

Like in slow-motion he saw the scared look on Felicitas´ muzzle, while he passed her.  
Her paw shot out and grabbed his right arm, but it glided smoothly through it.  
Without thinking she used the only option she had left…  
A painful sting went through his arm, but his descent was stopped!

He looked up and saw Felicitas´ claws, which bit into his arm and had left red marks on it.  
But the look of pure panic and agony was much worse than his own pain.  
After some moments he could get his head clear and grabbed a nearby branch with his left arm.

When he was secure again Felicitas jumped down to his branch and looked horrified at the red marks.  
“It´s not your fault Fel.”  
“But I´ve hurt you! You bleed!”  
“Don´t worry. I had worse injures. Here. It bled only here at the wrist.”  
Dwight pulled a small cloth from his pocket and put it on the small bleeding wounds.  
“When we are back in the camp, I´ll use the first-aid-kit and I´ll be as good as new.”

The rest of the way she hold his paw whenever he jumped another branch down, till they reached the ground.  
And when they reached the camp Dwight told his parents about the accident and made it clear, that Felicitas had nothing to do with his mistake.  
But it took some serious coaxing, before she could smile again. That was the point where she began to see that the event had no serious consequences. Just an accident. Nothing more.

At the dinner Felicitas insist on cutting the fish down to maw-fitting pieces and even feeding him like the small piece of fish she gave him the evening before.  
Shortly after that the kids began to tire out and got into the tent to just joke around.

It was past midnight, when Bo joined him again at the stream… silently looking up to the stars.  
None of them wanted to admit it, but the thought of losing Dwight just like that… it pained.  
“I think…”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
“No. You will not lock up him at home.”  
“But…”  
“That can happen every time he goes out to play. But it can happen when he goes to school too. When he goes to the supermarket, to the library or somewhere else. We have to believe in him he didn´t make a mistake like that again. If we want or not.”

Mick pulled her on him, wrapped his arms around her and pressed his nose into the wool at her neck.  
“You are right.”  
He took serval calming breaths.  
“That doesn´t mean I have to like it.”  
“Me either.”


End file.
